2021 Applicants

[lilgreenblatt]

On 1/2/2021 at 1:19 PM, Bopie5 said:

Happy new year, all! How's everyone doing? How are you planning to weather the next 2-3 weird months of waiting? 

Happy New Year!! I'm stressing about waiting, as I just lost my regular job which was keeping me busy. It was supposed to end in June, but now it's ending next week, so I'm a bit anxious about everything now. I'm hoping the weather will warm up soon in Texas (thanks, global warming...) so I can spend lots of time outdoors with my 4 month old corgi puppy! I'm just planning on going on lots of runs, working out a ton, getting more into a yoga practice, and baking more gluten and dairy free treats. I'm one of those people who likes to be busy for most of my waking hours in the day and loves a checklist of tasks. One can only make up so many reasons to go to Target and Trader Joe's in a week. 

If anyone has any fun hobbies that are quick to learn and active, let me know! Also, book suggestions are always loved and appreciated! Best wishes and prayers (to those who believe in that sort of thing and want them) for everyone!

[Bopie5]

8 minutes ago, lilgreenblatt said:

Happy New Year!! I'm stressing about waiting, as I just lost my regular job which was keeping me busy. It was supposed to end in June, but now it's ending next week, so I'm a bit anxious about everything now. I'm hoping the weather will warm up soon in Texas (thanks, global warming...) so I can spend lots of time outdoors with my 4 month old corgi puppy! I'm just planning on going on lots of runs, working out a ton, getting more into a yoga practice, and baking more gluten and dairy free treats. I'm one of those people who likes to be busy for most of my waking hours in the day and loves a checklist of tasks. One can only make up so many reasons to go to Target and Trader Joe's in a week. 

If anyone has any fun hobbies that are quick to learn and active, let me know! Also, book suggestions are always loved and appreciated! Best wishes and prayers (to those who believe in that sort of thing and want them) for everyone!

I'm so sorry to hear about your job! I can't imagine how stressful that must be. I'm jealous of your puppy though. Feel you though--I've been focusing a lot on my yoga practice, and I'm writing my master's thesis, and that's pretty much my entire life right now.

Have you tried embroidery? It's not active necessarily but it's easy to pick up and nice to do something with your hands while watching tv. I've also gotten really in to tending my houseplants (I have over 25...). 

I've gotten much more in to reading for fun over the last few months. A few I really enjoyed recently were The Idiot by Elif Batuman, Memorial by Bryan Washington,10:04 by Ben Lerner, and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. What have you been reading lately?

[lilgreenblatt]

37 minutes ago, Bopie5 said:

I'm so sorry to hear about your job! I can't imagine how stressful that must be. I'm jealous of your puppy though. Feel you though--I've been focusing a lot on my yoga practice, and I'm writing my master's thesis, and that's pretty much my entire life right now.

Have you tried embroidery? It's not active necessarily but it's easy to pick up and nice to do something with your hands while watching tv. I've also gotten really in to tending my houseplants (I have over 25...). 

I've gotten much more in to reading for fun over the last few months. A few I really enjoyed recently were The Idiot by Elif Batuman, Memorial by Bryan Washington,10:04 by Ben Lerner, and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. What have you been reading lately?

My sister just picked up knitting and has been trying to get me to join her! I love how dainty and sweet embroidery is. And I love houseplants! My room in my house is too dark, so I stick to succulents, but I am also a houseplant enthusiast. 

I just read Transcendent Kingdom and enjoyed it lots! I'm currently trekking though Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. 

[Lighthouse Lana]

I can't tell y'all how many puzzles I've been doing lately... It really has that amazing power to make hours go by without having to think about anything except putting pieces together and matching color schemes. But then once I finish the puzzle my brain goes, "well I guess we might as well go refresh the *english results page on Grad Cafe for literally no reason!" As a survivor of last year's application season, I am sending all of you my sincere best wishes. Stay strong and support local bookstores with your puzzle obsession! 

[lilgreenblatt]

2 minutes ago, Lighthouse Lana said:

I can't tell y'all how many puzzles I've been doing lately... It really has that amazing power to make hours go by without having to think about anything except putting pieces together and matching color schemes. But then once I finish the puzzle my brain goes, "well I guess we might as well go refresh the *english results page on Grad Cafe for literally no reason!" As a survivor of last year's application season, I am sending all of you my sincere best wishes. Stay strong and support local bookstores with your puzzle obsession! 

I love puzzles!!! My family has gotten into the NYT daily mini-crossword app and have a competition to see who can do it the fastest each day. It's very entertaining. I've also started doing sudoku again (I had a childhood obsession). I love tiny, brain-busting games and puzzles.

[Lighthouse Lana]

6 minutes ago, lilgreenblatt said:

I love puzzles!!! My family has gotten into the NYT daily mini-crossword app and have a competition to see who can do it the fastest each day. It's very entertaining. I've also started doing sudoku again (I had a childhood obsession). I love tiny, brain-busting games and puzzles.

Oh my gosh I forgot about the crossword!!! This opens up a whole new level of puzzlemania

[kirbs005]

2 hours ago, lilgreenblatt said:

If anyone has any fun hobbies that are quick to learn and active, let me know!

Not sure I would really consider it a "hobby" but have you tried barre workouts? If you like yoga but also working out in general it's amazing. I use barre3 and they have a ton of good online classes (and I think there's a 15 day trial?).

We've also gotten in to cooperative board games if you have someone to play with. There's a Harry Potter one that's great, but we've also gone headfirst into Gloomhaven.

 

[lilgreenblatt]

27 minutes ago, kirbs005 said:

Not sure I would really consider it a "hobby" but have you tried barre workouts? If you like yoga but also working out in general it's amazing. I use barre3 and they have a ton of good online classes (and I think there's a 15 day trial?).

We've also gotten in to cooperative board games if you have someone to play with. There's a Harry Potter one that's great, but we've also gone headfirst into Gloomhaven.

 

I do Orange Theory about 3-5 times a week and then yoga/long distance running each once a week! I've always wanted to get into barre but couldn't budget it with my Orange Theory membership. 

[angrychalupa]

1 hour ago, silk said:

hey everyone!

i hope everyone is doing good during these stressful times. i'm new to the forum, and i applied to some master's programs in comparative lit.

penn state, this morning, e-mailed me to say they wanted to have "brief chat" over zoom this friday, and i'm freaking out about it. my languages are turkish and intermediate spanish (though the speaking part is very rusty there).

would they, like, out of the blue, ask me to speak spanish during the interview?

i was wondering if anyone had any advice for me! thank you!

 

I have heard that some programs will conduct at least part of their interview in your language of specialization--but how often this does actually happen, I don't know. I'm in a similar boat that my German spoken skills are rusty at best (and I tend to accidentally slide into Czech instead, which is not exactly ideal for an interview...).

[silk]

2 minutes ago, angrychalupa said:

I have heard that some programs will conduct at least part of their interview in your language of specialization--but how often this does actually happen, I don't know. I'm in a similar boat that my German spoken skills are rusty at best (and I tend to accidentally slide into Czech instead, which is not exactly ideal for an interview...).

it's really scary.. i'm happy to speak turkish since it is my native language, but i already wrote in my sop that i wanted to "acquire fluency in Spanish during my studies..." so i hope they don't expect me to converse in it easily at this time... because i will definitely fail!
and i see what you mean, my spanish definitely has some french in it (from high school!)
where did you apply? expecting any interviews?
 

[angrychalupa]

@silk thankfully, a lot of the programs i applied to don't seem to require interviews. that being said, i wouldn't be surprised if i do end up getting at least one? i spoke with a poi over the summer who seemed to think i had decent standing/potential. i've applied to an odd mix of schools/programs, because my focus is a bit difficult to find faculty aligning with it--rutgers, ucdavis, ucla, johns hopkins...i'm a bit all over the map.

[cassidyaxx]

Me: I'm not going to stress over applications this year.

Also me: just woke up from a nightmare where applicants are eliminated survivor style by judges. Instead of each school judging, there was one set of judges who went through every single application. I was one of two in a double elimination and they gave us a "fact sheet" about our applications and for my level of skill they had written "fricken undergrad!" Results, please come faster lol.

[Bopie5]

22 hours ago, lilgreenblatt said:

My sister just picked up knitting and has been trying to get me to join her! I love how dainty and sweet embroidery is. And I love houseplants! My room in my house is too dark, so I stick to succulents, but I am also a houseplant enthusiast. 

I just read Transcendent Kingdom and enjoyed it lots! I'm currently trekking though Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. 

Transcendent Kingdom was so, so good! I particularly enjoyed the lyrical way Gifty's scientific research for her PhD was presented. About halfway through the book I started tearing up and I was teary for the entire rest of the read, haha.

In general, as I wait for results I've been finding myself drawn to novels about grad students, adjuncts, and other precarious populations in or adjacent to academia. I'm currently reading Want by Lynn Steger Strong (the main character is an English PhD who works as a high school teacher and an adjunct prof, and is now filing for bankruptcy ?) and I'm eagerly anticipating Christine Smallwood's The Life of the Mind (also about an adjunct English prof) which comes out in March...can't tell if this amplified tendency is cathartic or masochistic! 

[silk]

@angrychalupa  by the way, they sent an additional e-mail which named the faculty who will interview me. and they don't speak spanish, thankfully (not that i know of!), so maybe if you do have an interview somewhere, you'll also know who will be interviewing you and will have a chance to do research on them beforehand, hopefully, it eases the anxiety!
 

[onerepublic96]

Hi all! I've been pretty MIA on this site for a while after last year's cycle ended, but I just wanted to pop in and wish you all good luck. I can't even begin to imagine how stressful this process must have been this year, and each one of you smart, strong candidates deserves to make it into your first-choice programs. ?

[Cloudbury]

Thank you poster above for the well wishes and I wish you could help us get accepted. ? 

Anyone heard anything from schools yet?What are you guys hoping to specialize in? 

Edited January 14, 2021 by Cloudbury

[Kapol-in]

Didn't think I would get those weird dreams but in the past week I've had a dream about being interviewed for a graduate program, me getting an acceptance to MIT, and me literally just sitting down at a desk doing graduate school work...

 

4 hours ago, Cloudbury said:

Thank you poster above for the well wishes and I wish you could help us get accepted. ? 

Anyone heard anything from schools yet?What are you guys hoping to specialize in? 

None yet. I'm really hoping to get into some niche of philosophy of science with many rhizomatic-like approaches to the media; I want to do both applied and theoretical work. 

[kirbs005]

On 1/13/2021 at 8:21 AM, cassidyaxx said:

Me: I'm not going to stress over applications this year.

Also me: just woke up from a nightmare where applicants are eliminated survivor style by judges. Instead of each school judging, there was one set of judges who went through every single application. I was one of two in a double elimination and they gave us a "fact sheet" about our applications and for my level of skill they had written "fricken undergrad!" Results, please come faster lol.

I had something similar! I got in, but then the visit day was like a relay competition and they were going from 24 acceptances to 12 students. It was so stressful. I've had a couple "good" dreams of getting in, so I assume this is karma's way of balancing it out. 

[lilgreenblatt]

12 hours ago, Cloudbury said:

Thank you poster above for the well wishes and I wish you could help us get accepted. ? 

Anyone heard anything from schools yet?What are you guys hoping to specialize in? 

I would like to repeat the thanks given! 

No updates yet, but hopeful to get some in the next week or two. 

I'm hoping to specialize in Southern-American Literature (i.e. Kate Chopin, Tennessee Williams, Harper Lee, etc. and not South American lit). Specifically, gender and sexuality in the American South from Antebellum period to present. Kind of a wide net, but a fun one

[kirbs005]

12 hours ago, Cloudbury said:

Thank you poster above for the well wishes and I wish you could help us get accepted. ? 

Anyone heard anything from schools yet?What are you guys hoping to specialize in? 

I'm expected Ohio State any day now if they follow their dates from prior years. And I'm probably going to hear from one of the Communication departments in the next week or two. I thought I'd be cool about it, but I'm not at all. I've been checking OSU's website constantly since they update that before they send emails. 

I'm a rhetoric person, specifically rhetoric of science and medicine. I normally pick topics where the public interacts with science/medicine: experts/expertise, conspiracy theories and pseudoscience, and science in pop culture. So LOTS of topics floating around in my head with covid, and am excited to dig into some fresh research (hopefully). 

[jkv152]

I'm patiently waiting to hear back. I applied to six programs and I know it's a bit premature, but here's hoping I start to hear back in another one to two weeks. I know decision timelines are contingent on the school and department. I'm in Film and Media Studies and it seems that a majority of programs inform around Jan-Feb. Any other FMS folks?

[Magic Lantern]

Finally submitted all of my applications. I feel kind of numb. Strangely, there is no catharsis at all, no sense of closure, no nothing. lol

[lilgreenblatt]

4 minutes ago, Magic Lantern said:

Finally submitted all of my applications. I feel kind of numb. Strangely, there is no catharsis at all, no sense of closure, no nothing. lol

I felt the same way! Instead, I just felt immediate anxiety about all the waiting and doubt I would experience in the following months. 

[languageisaskin]

I finished my apps back in mid-December and thought I might be able to play it cool until February... until I discovered this forum and saw that someone has already had an interview for Duke Literature. Is it fair to mentally throw in the towel on that one if I didn't get an interview request? Anyone else out there hear anything from Duke?

On 1/13/2021 at 10:16 AM, Bopie5 said:

In general, as I wait for results I've been finding myself drawn to novels about grad students, adjuncts, and other precarious populations in or adjacent to academia. I'm currently reading Want by Lynn Steger Strong (the main character is an English PhD who works as a high school teacher and an adjunct prof, and is now filing for bankruptcy ?) and I'm eagerly anticipating Christine Smallwood's The Life of the Mind (also about an adjunct English prof) which comes out in March...can't tell if this amplified tendency is cathartic or masochistic! 

I've also been drawn to campus lit and truly cannot tell if it's a healthy impulse.... Regardless, I really enjoyed Real Life by Brandon Taylor and finally got around to Stoner ✨

[Cloudbury]

@languageisaskinAre you sure someone had an interview request for Duke this year? I didn't get one...